Electronic marketplaces (e.g., Internet- or web-based marketplaces) have become legitimate alternatives to traditional “brick and mortar” retail stores. For instance, consumers may visit a merchant's website to view and/or purchase goods and services offered for sale by the merchant (and/or third party merchants). In many cases, consumers appreciate the convenience and simplicity of the shopping experience provided by electronic marketplaces. For example, a consumer may quickly browse an electronic catalog (e.g., via a web browser) and select one or more items from the catalog for purchase. Such items may be shipped directly to the consumer thereby relieving the consumer of the inconvenience of traveling to a physical store.
Some electronic marketplaces include large electronic catalogs of items offered for sale. Distributors that operate such marketplaces may process inventory of items in one or more facilities (e.g., warehouses, distributions centers, etc.). Some product sellers have facilities in only a relatively small number of locations. Shipping from the small number to myriad domestic and foreign locations of customers requires that many items be shipped long distances.
Some product sellers experience large seasonal fluctuations. For example, some retail merchants experience very high product demand during holiday seasons. These seasonal fluctuations cause spikes in facilities requirements. To meet the facilities requirements during these spikes, sellers may create and stock temporary facilities, such as a holiday fulfillment center. Such temporary facilities may, however, be expensive to equip and maintain. For example, a large amount of shelving may need to be constructed for a temporary fulfillment center. Conventional shelving may be capital intensive and labor intensive to construct, and may require significant planning, permitting, inspections, and certifications. Moreover, even where such temporary facilities can be made available, the facilities may not be in the optimal locations relative to the customer base.
Even after seasonal requirements have subsided for temporary facilities, temporary facilities and the associated equipment may consume a substantial amount of resources.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include,” “including,” and “includes” mean including, but not limited to.